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Domino effect of climate change over two millennia in ancient China’s Hexi Corridor

Author

Listed:
  • Qi Feng

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Linshan Yang

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Ravinesh C. Deo

    (University of Southern Queensland)

  • Amir AghaKouchak

    (University of California)

  • Jan F. Adamowski

    (McGill University)

  • Roger Stone

    (University of Southern Queensland)

  • Zhenliang Yin

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Wei Liu

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Jianhua Si

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Xiaohu Wen

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Meng Zhu

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Shixiong Cao

    (Minzu University of China)

Abstract

Climate change, population growth and extreme events can trigger social crises and instability. The processes that dominate a society’s emergence, resilience and collapse, and the complex interactions among such processes, operating within a small region, at a multicentury or even larger time scale, remain to be identified. The causes or driving forces responsible for societal changes must be identified for a plausible explanation. Historical records provide unique examples of societies that have failed to develop buffers and strategic resilience against climate change and natural variability. Using a wide range of observations from China’s Hexi Corridor, the complex interactive processes linking climate change with human society over the past two millennia were investigated. This paper proposes a domino effect resulting from a society’s failure to respond to climate change in which individual small problems create a greater challenge over long time spans. Building resilience against the impacts of climate change requires a deep understanding of social and environmental feedbacks to create a reliable buffer against future changes. This study offers lessons learned from the past 2,000 years that remain relevant today, given the projected changes in climate and extreme events.

Suggested Citation

  • Qi Feng & Linshan Yang & Ravinesh C. Deo & Amir AghaKouchak & Jan F. Adamowski & Roger Stone & Zhenliang Yin & Wei Liu & Jianhua Si & Xiaohu Wen & Meng Zhu & Shixiong Cao, 2019. "Domino effect of climate change over two millennia in ancient China’s Hexi Corridor," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 2(10), pages 957-961, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:2:y:2019:i:10:d:10.1038_s41893-019-0397-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41893-019-0397-9
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    Cited by:

    1. Yang, Linshan & Feng, Qi & Lu, Tiaoxue & Adamowski, Jan F. & Yin, Zhenliang & Hatami, Shadi & Zhu, Meng & Wen, Xiaohu, 2023. "The response of agroecosystem water use efficiency to cropland change in northwest China’s Hexi Corridor," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    2. Wei Liu & Linshan Yang & Meng Zhu & Jan F. Adamowski & Rahim Barzegar & Xiaohu Wen & Zhenliang Yin, 2021. "Effect of Elevation on Variation in Reference Evapotranspiration under Climate Change in Northwest China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-19, September.
    3. Yu, Haijiao & Wen, Xiaohu & Wu, Min & Sheng, Danrui & Wu, Jun & Zhao, Ying, 2022. "Data-based groundwater quality estimation and uncertainty analysis for irrigation agriculture," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    4. Feng Chen & Hadad Martín & Xiaoen Zhao & Fidel Roig & Heli Zhang & Shijie Wang & Weipeng Yue & Youping Chen, 2022. "Abnormally low precipitation-induced ecological imbalance contributed to the fall of the Ming Dynasty: new evidence from tree rings," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 173(1), pages 1-16, July.

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